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STEVENS POINT – Strawberry season has come and gone in central Wisconsin, but blueberry season is in full swing at Chet's Blueberry Farm in Stevens Point.

Ten years ago, Chet Skippy, 78, started the berry farm, 525 Highway J North, in Stevens Point, because he noticed there were no other blueberry farms in the area.

"If you're going to get into a business, you have to find a need," Skippy said. "You have to ask 'Can I grow it?' and if you can, 'Will people come to it?'"

Skippy said he has 12 acres of berries, or about 14,000 plants, and said he grows 10 varieties. The farm offers both pick-your-own and pre-picked berries.

Lisa Crockett, who recently retired as a kindergarten teacher from St. Stanislaus Elementary School in Stevens Point, said she began working at the berry farm during summers three years ago. Crockett said she enjoys talking to customers and their children, and she said there's nothing better than picking berries.

"When you work 6 to 2 almost every day, you think you'd get sick of the berries," Crockett said. "But the first day the berries are all ripe, it's just like Christmas."

Crockett said she and other berry farm workers drive golf carts up and down the rows and keep an eye on where the berries are ripe. Workers show visitors where they should begin and end picking. Skippy said at his berry farm, keeping the farm clean is key to producing quality berries for visitors.

"I like to give them a good, quality plant so they get good, quality berries," Skippy said. "I've heard some people say it looks like a golf course with blueberries planted in it."

Sunshine Buchholz, 40, of Stevens Point was picking blueberries Thursday with her son Walden, 2, and said they come to the farm every year.

"We come here because blueberries are good for (Walden), and for us they last a long time," Buchholz said. "They stay fresh even if we don't freeze them right away."

Beth Omernik of Rosholt also was at the berry farm Thursday with her sons Gavin, 6, and Eli, 4.

"It's so much fun to just pick them," Omernik said. "We use them to make jam and pancakes and things like that."

Eli said he loves to eat blueberries because blue is his favorite color and it reminds him of Thomas the Tank Engine. Gavin said he likes picking the berries the most, and that his favorite thing to make with them is pancakes.

Skippy said the blueberry season at his farm should run until the beginning of September, but he urges people to call 715-340-4989 for a condition report before heading to the farm.